Derek Abrefa
of Ghana Immigration Service regained his enviable top position in Ghana Table
Tennis when he beat Felix Lartey in the finals of the one day Ghana Table
Tennis Open Championship played at the rlg Hathiramani Hall of the Accra Sports
Stadium on Saturday October 6, 2012.
He displayed
good sense of judgment, tactical discipline and patience to beat the more
aggressive former champion, also of the Immigration Service.
Emmanuel
Commey, another Immigration Service personnel beat Adolf Awortw in the third
place game. The two semi finalists from the Immigration Service also put up
wonderful performance to the delight of fans that were at the Hathiramani Hall
to see the Championship.
In the
ladies category, Cylia Baah-Danso lost her title as number one seed to Cynthia Kwabi
who beat Linda Annor
in the ladies finals. Baah-Danso settled for the third position after disposing
off Bernice Borquaye of the Ghana Armed Forces, the nursing mother who was able
to make it to the top four said she had not trained enough for the championships
due to short notice, but hoped to bounce back in grand style.
The event
was sponsored by Seven Great Princess Academy School and Malas Iced Blocks
Company Ltd.
Presenting
prizes to the winners, Madam Evert Brown of Seven Great Princes School said
there are vast talents to be tapped in the game and every effort must be made
available for Ghana Table Tennis to develop to the international level. She
wondered why an event like the Championship was not held every month to unearth
new talents and keep the top seeds always active.
Coach Owusu
Ansah donated sets of table tennis balls to the regions that brought players to
the event. Akeem Brookman from the Ashanti region told yours truly his players
do not have the equipment to train which is why they couldn’t get a top 4 place,
but believes with time, the National Sports Authority will get the right
tables, bats and balls to produce champions from the region that is
noted to have produced most sports talents.
Rev.
Richmond Quarcoo, the chairman of the Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA)
praised the players and urged them to keep on training for two more
competitions before the year ends. He said lack of sponsorship is killing the
game and appealed to companies and individuals who love the sport to come on
board to make Table Tennis better in Ghana.
“Please do
not go home to sleep, keep on training as there is another event next month.
There is no magic in sports, the only magic is training to become perfect,”
Rev. Quarcoo cautioned the players.
He added: “We
want to appeal for support and sponsorship. Our equipment are quite expensive
and we cannot manufacture the appropriate tables here. We also need good
international standard bats and balls to produce quality players and
champions.”
Credit:
Sammy Heywood Okine /
